


Bright as the sun

by some_nights



Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9362204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/some_nights/pseuds/some_nights
Summary: The first time Todd Brotzman sees Dirk Gently, it’s 6am and his shift at the local coffee shop has just begun. Dirk walks in, obnoxiously yellow leather jacket, colourful scarf and bouncing with energy, a bright contrast to the other customers who looked like they'd just crawled out of bed.That’s what draws Todd’s eye, or at least that’s what he tells himself.aka the obligatory coffee shop auThis story is also available in:Русский





	

The first time Todd Brotzman sees Dirk Gently, it’s 6am and his shift at the local coffee shop has just begun. Dirk walks in, obnoxiously yellow leather jacket, colourful scarf and bouncing with energy, a bright contrast to the other customers who looked like they'd just crawled out of bed.

That’s what draws Todd’s eye, or at least that’s what he tells himself. It’s because of the bright jacket, the humming, the scarf that seemed to be of a different colour every time you looked at it, the not-quite still standing that he can barely tear his gaze away from the stranger. That and not his unfairly beautiful face or his radiant energy.

_ He is like the sun _ , thinks part of Todd. The other part of Todd shoves that thought into the trash where it belongs and continues to do its work. That is until sunshine man reaches the counter with a smile as bright as his jacket.

“Todd Brotzman”, he says in a charming british accent.

Todd couldn’t remember any customer ever bothering to read the name tag, let alone say his name out loud. So he is, to say the least, a little surprised.

But he catches himself fast and asks: “What can I do for you, sir?”

The line behind the sunshine man is not getting any shorter and Todd has a job to do.

“Ah, yes”, sunshine man nodds. “The name’s Dirk Gently.”

And then he extends his hand in greeting.

Todd just stares at him open mouthed. That stranger just got a lot stranger.

When he realises Todd will not shake his hand, Dirk’s face falls for just a second, before he says: “I would like the iced kakao-cappuccino with all the spices you’ve got, please!”

Iced. In winter. Todd blinks two times. Then a customer behind Dirk begins to complain and Todd sets to work.

“Thank you, Todd Brotzman”, Dirk says when he gets his  _ Iced Kakao Cappuccino _ (Todd still can’t believe it). He smiles at Todd and makes his way out into the dark cold. And for the rest of the day, Todd can’t stop thinking about Dirk.

***

Even when he drops by at his sister’s house, he is distracted. Or rather, more distracted than usual. It doesn’t take too long for Amanda to catch on and ask: “Who is it?”

She’s sitting cross-legged on her favourite chair while Todd is peeling potatoes on the floor.  He knows there’s no point in even trying to evade the question. He still tries.

“No one.”

“And what does this no one look like?”, she asks, suggestively leaning forward.

Todd sighs.

“Okay fine, today at work there was this weird customer. Dirk Gently. He ordered an Iced Kakao Cappuccino!”

Amanda huffs and asks: “In winter?”

“Right? That’s what I thought!” Todd puts down the knife and continues: “I also thought about making it decaf, because he seemed like the kind of person who should not be drinking caffeine, but who am I to judge. He wasn’t dressed weather appropriately either, I think. Leather jackets aren’t that warm, right?” 

Now Amanda is outright beaming. It’s her teasing sister grin.

“Who’d have thought. My brother’s got himself a crush.”

“Amanda, I barely even know the guy!”

“You’re blushing!”, she says, a devious glint in her eyes.

Todd can feel it. He still says: “Am not!”

“You’re head is so red, it could serve as traffic light.”

“Amanda!”

He can’t help but smile.

“Imagine though!” Amanda starts to outright laugh. “All the drivers having to see your stupid face. It’d be better if you blushed green, cause then they could just drive by!”

Todd tries not to, but he joins in with her laughter. Potatoes completely forgotten for a while, they plan out a traffic light system entirely based on human faces and have the best evening in a long while. Todd is glad that Amanda forgets to ask after Dirk Gently again.

***

Even though Dirk Gently shows up plenty of times in Todd’s thoughts, it’s exactly three months until he sees him again in person.

It’s 9:55 pm and Todd is just cleaning up, when the bell above the door rings. Todd jumps and turns around to see Dirk Gently. His heart stutters for a moment. Probably just because he was startled.

“Todd Brotzman!”, Dirk says with the same bright smile. This time his jacket is pink. It makes Todd miss the yellow one.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’ve already cleaned the coffee machine”, Todd says apologetically.

Dirk makes a wavy motion with his hand. “Call me Dirk, please! And I’m not here for coffee. The Iced Kakao Cappuccino was terrific by the way, thanks for that! Even though I will not drink it again any time soon, it makes me a little… agitated is probably the right word! Anyway. I was just about to ask you if you could help me.”

“Help you”, Todd asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, help me. You see, I have this problem. And I think only you can be of assistance.”

Todd just looks at Dirk with a raised eyebrow.

Dirk continues to smile.

“What exactly is your problem, Dirk?”, Todd asks. It feels a little weird to call Dirk by his first name. But it also feels right.

For the first time, Dirk seems insecure. His smile is not as bright anymore and he fistles his hands. He draws a breath and says: “This is probably wildly inappropriate, but I don’t really know how to do this appropriately, so I do it my way. Since we met the other day-”

“Three month ago!”, Todd interrupts him. Dirk nodds.

He nodds solemny and continues: “Since we met three month ago, Todd Brotzman, you have been stuck in my head. So I am here to ask you if you would like to accompany me to a place where we could maybe have dinner together?”

Todd can feel the smile spread from inside out. His heart flutters and it is definitely not because he is startled.

“On two conditions”, he says.

Dirk nodds eagerly.

“Firstly, call me Todd. It’s weird when you always use me full name.”

“Done, Todd.”

Dirk smiles like a child on christmas day.

“And secondly”, Todd pauses and gives Dirk a one-over. “Please don’t wear that jacket to any of our dates ever again.”

Dirk’s laugh was even more beautiful than his smile.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written at 3:30am and inspired by a tumblr post I can't link for some reason.  
> I'm very tired now, but I hope you enjoyed the read!


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